


Shiratorizawa ficlets

by KaSaPe



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 10,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaSaPe/pseuds/KaSaPe
Summary: A collection of short request fills for the Shiratorizawa boys!(Each of the chapters is a standalone piece, check author's notes for content warnings.)
Relationships: Goshiki Tsutomu/Kawanishi Taichi, Goshiki Tsutomu/Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou, Goshiki Tsutomu/Shirabu Kenjirou, Goshiki Tsutomu/Tendou Satori, Kawanishi Taichi/Semi Eita, Kawanishi Taichi/Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou, Kawanishi Taichi/Shirabu Kenjirou, Oohira Reon/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou, Semi Eita/Tendou Satori, Semi Eita/Yamagata Hayato, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 224





	1. semishiragoshi - “Is the cat in a onesie?” “Uh, no?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Kenjiro wasn’t sure what he had expected when he came home from his grocery trip, but it sure wasn’t this.

Frowning, he took in the scene in the living room. Eita and Tsutomu had been suspiciously quiet when he had called out a greeting earlier. The reason for that had become abundantly clear: they were huddled around their cat, tiny items of clothing and paper strewn around them as Tsutomu fiddled with a camera. Whatever they were doing, they were very invested in it.

Kenjiro put the grocery bags aside and stepped into the room. “What are you doing?”

Tsutomu jumped before turning and giving Kenjiro a grin. “Ah, you’re back!”

“How was the trip?” Eita asked as if he wasn’t currently sitting in the middle of the biggest mess their living room had seen in months. 

“It was fine.” Kenjiro narrowed his eyes. “Is the cat in a onesie?” 

“Uh, no?” Eita scoffed. He picked Aia up and turned her towards Kenjiro. “Does this look like a onesie to you?” 

Kenjiro admired Aia’s patience. The cat was relaxed and blinking slowly at him, completely unbothered by the little pajama she was wearing. He wanted to ask why they were doing this but doubted his boyfriends had had any other thoughts than ‘cat cute’ when they had ordered the clothes. 

Shaking his head, Kenjiro stepped back into the hallway. “Just clean up after yourselves.”

“Wait, wait! You have to look at this, doesn’t she look cute? We were thinking about making a slideshow to show the others next Thursday,” Tsutomu said. A camera was shoved into Kenjiro’s face and he took in the sight of Aia in a suit. It admittedly looked cute, although he didn’t want to imagine what Aia must have suffered through to get to this point. 

“A slideshow?”

“Yes! Or something like that. Maybe a short video, that’ll be easier to show them... Yamagata-san always asks how she’s doing, so we thought it’d be a good idea.”

Kenjiro made a noncommittal noise and picked the groceries up. He had to put some of them into the fridge before they went bad. 

“Hey, Tsutomu, come look at this!”

“Coming!”

Kenjiro watched Tsutomu hurry back into the living room and allowed himself a fond smile when Eita presented Aia’s newest outfit. These idiots were so excited over this... unbelievable. The longer they lived together, the more he was convinced that the cat was smarter than both of them put together. 

He wouldn’t change it for the world.


	2. Oohira Reon - “I’m too sober for this.” “You don’t even drink.” “Maybe I should start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

The Shiratorizawa volleyball team had been ordered to clean up the lost and found and, frankly, Reon was kind of dreading what they would find in there. Last time they had found three pairs of underwear with no one to speak for them. So he definitely hadn’t complained when Saitou-sensei had asked him, Jin and Wakatoshi to stay behind to discuss their plans for the upcoming school festival.

He should have known that leaving the rest of the volleyball team unsupervised would end in disaster. 

There were some of the first years chasing each other with pairs of old socks on a stick while at least three more were shouting at them to stop. And somehow, it only got worse from there.

Taichi was sitting on the ground with a gigantic plushie dog in his lap and a smaller one laid over his shoulder. He was sorting through a paper box but judging by the small pile of unopened chips in front of him he had his own priorities when it came to things they should keep. Someone had stuck a sticky note to his forehead that read “don’t talk to me or my son or my other son ever again”, the handwriting resembled Hayato’s a truly suspicious amount. 

Hayato himself had a shirt tied around his waist and was busy trying to put four pairs of glasses on his head. Three of them were sunglasses, so Reon at least didn’t have to worry about too many people having lost their prescription glasses. He was also covered in sticky notes full of barely readable insults - a quick look around the gym confirmed Eita as the culprit. Eita didn’t look any different from him, only he was carrying a thick rope around his shoulders.

Satori had somehow gotten his hands on both a fishing rod and a bra, neither of which Reon had any idea of where they might have come from. He was clearly having the time of his life posing with them as Tsutomu obediently took pictures. There was an empty bag of chips on his head that he must have stolen from Taichi. 

Reon couldn’t find Kenjiro amongst the group until he saw his bright hair peeking out over a pile of books that had been purposely arranged in piles tall enough to hide their creator. A post-it note with ‘no fun zone’ was stuck to one of them. Whoever wrote it should consider themself lucky that Kenjiro hadn’t discovered it yet.

For a moment Reon just stood frozen in the door, then he sighed. “I’m too sober for this.”

Wakatoshi side-eyed him. “You don’t even drink.”

“Maybe I should start.”


	3. semishira - “If I die, I’m haunting you first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

“If I die, I’m haunting you first.”

Eita snorted and elbowed Shirabu. “What, are you that scared?”

“Shut up.”

“But it’s just a roller coaster!”

“I _said_. Shut. Up.”

Eita threw his head back and laughed. Shirabu was so dramatic sometimes. “It’s really not that bad, there’s like what, two loops? Three?”

“If you say one more word it won’t be me who dies,” Shirabu threatened. Eita laughed again and pressed against Shirabu’s shoulder restraints. 

“Good luck with that, I’m pretty sure you can’t get out of here until the ride is over.” 

This time, Shirabu didn’t grace him with a response. Eita grinned to himself and nudged Shirabu with his feet. Still no response. He tried a little more before giving up and relaxing back into his seat. There was still a smile on his face, something about today that had him in a really good mood. Was it the rollercoaster? The fact that it was Saturday? Or the company?

Eita’s excitement calmed a little as his thoughts turned towards Shirabu. Not that he had told Shirabu how much he had come to enjoy his company. No, he quite valued his dignity, thank you very much. They had just started to really get along, Eita wouldn’t ruin this with an ill-timed confession - even if he believed that Shirabu wouldn't think worse of him for it.

Smiling vaguely, he looked back at him. Shirabu was still full of tension, his hands white-knuckled where they held on to the shoulder restraints. He really didn’t seem to be enjoying himself.

“If you dislike roller coasters that much, why did you agree to come with me?”

Shirabu glanced at him before looking back to the front. “...no reason.”

No reason, huh. 

When Eita offered him his hand to hold on to, he didn’t say no.


	4. kawagoshi - “Are we on a date right now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Tsutomu was nervous. When Kawanishi had asked him three days ago to go to the movies, his first response had been pure happiness. He had been looking forward to Monday until he had overheard Oohira-san and Tendou-san talking about dates. Ever since then, he laid awake at night trying to figure out if he was going on a date or not. He still didn’t have an answer and he was supposed to leave now. 

Swallowing drily, Tsutomu hurried out of his room. Then he immediately hurried back in because he had forgotten his wallet. He couldn’t just leave without his wallet, he needed to pay for his ticket, arriving without money would be the same thing as just assuming that it was a date! 

Kawanishi was already waiting at the school gate when Tsutomu arrived. His heart kicked into overdrive the moment he saw him, he looked so good in casual clothes. Was it just his imagination or were they fancier than usual?

“Sorry!” he cried out from afar. “Sorry, I’m late!”

Kawanishi turned towards him and raised his eyebrows. “You’re not. Everything’s fine.” 

Trying to hide his labored breathing, Tsutomu got out his phone. “I’m not?” 

He wasn’t. In fact, he was still early. For how long had Kawanishi waited at the gates? Had he arrived early to make sure that Tsutomu wouldn’t be the one to wait for him? Or had he just been enjoying the afternoon sun? Was this a date or not?!

“Nope. Come on, let’s go. I didn’t reserve any tickets, so it’s good if we’re a little early.”

Tsutomu agreed and followed him out of school grounds. His thoughts couldn’t help but repeatedly circle around the facts though: an invitation for the movies, pretty clothes, arriving early. Could be a coincidence. Could be anything but. He _wanted_ it to be anything but.

“...are you alright?”

Tsutomu jumped and looked at Kawanishi. They had been walking in silence for quite some time now. “Yes, why?”

“You seem distracted.”

Oh god. Oh no. “No, absolutely not! Everything is fine!” he said in a squeaky voice. Grimacing to himself, he rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants. He hoped that Kawanishi wouldn’t ask anything else.

Thankfully, the other seemed to understand. “If you say so.”

“Yeah. Yeah, everything is fine. It’s just - I was kinda distracted because-” Why was he still talking?! Kawanishi hadn’t even asked him anything! _“Are we on a date right now?!”_

Kawanishi stopped dead in his tracks. Tsutomu froze in terror. For a moment there was only silence, then Kawanishi turned towards him. His eyes seemed searching, registered the small part of Tsutomu’s brain that wasn’t busy ringing all the alarm bells it could find.

“...do you want it to be?”

It wasn’t a no. It wasn’t a no!

Tsutomu relaxed a little as hope crept into his chest. “Maybe?” he dared to ask. 

Kawanishi smiled. “Then there’s your answer.”


	5. semigata - “Am I your lockscreen?” “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Hayato knew a lot of things about Eita. He knew his favorite snack and his favorite music, he knew his shitty fashion style and how to dig his serves, he knew how much he sucked at English and that he got kinda grumpy in the mornings. He knew that he disliked writing with pencils and that his soap smelled like almonds and that he had been playing the guitar since he was 10. 

And he also knew without a doubt that Eita was secretly sentimental. Still, he hadn’t been prepared to see a picture of himself when Eita checked the time after training. 

“Am I your lockscreen?”

Eita looked like a deer in headlights. “You weren’t supposed to see that.” 

“Why?” 

“Just...” Eita trailed off and rubbed his neck. He was already flushed from training but Hayato could have sworn his cheeks turned a shade darker still. Was he embarrassed? The thought warmed his chest and he laughed.

“No reason to look so guilty! I should have known that you would have lockscreens and wallpapers of our team.” 

Eita didn’t reply, not that he had to. Satori took over for him. “Oh, yeah, his homescreen is of the team!” Eita glared at him but Satori was undeterred. “He changes it sometimes but aaaalways makes sure that all of us are on there, isn’t that right, Eita-kun?”

“One more word from you and I will-”

“That’s a yes!” Satori crowed. “But, get this, you’re the only one who has ever been his lockscreen! Apart from Wakatoshi-kun in his first year, but he got out of that phase when-” Before he could continue, Eita whacked him with a towel. 

“Tendou!” 

“What, are you embarrassed? Don’t you want Hayato-kun to know that he is _special_?”

“SATORI!” Eita jumped at him but Satori was already halfway across the gym, cackling all the way. When Eita took a step in his direction, Hayato grabbed his arm. He froze immediately and gave him an uncertain look.

“Wait here for a second,” Hayato told him. He didn’t wait for Eita to agree, he just hurried over to where he had left his phone with his water bottle and towel. Within a few seconds he was back, holding his own phone out for Eita to see. 

Eita breathed in sharply. “That’s-”

Hayato grinned. “We match!”


	6. Semi - “Is that blood?” “…..No?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst, major injury, referenced (minor) character death

Eita was shaking as he made his way home, the freezing wind like needles on his face. His arm hurt. Everything hurt. He could barely think through the pain. What was he supposed to do now? Was the other guy dead? Had he killed someone?! He hadn’t meant to, he had just been trying to defend himself. Would anyone even believe him when he said that the guy had attacked him with a knife? Probably not, not after he ran away from the scene. 

Unbidden tears filled his eyes. He wasn’t a murderer. He wasn’t even violent. He had been out to buy new headphones, he had never wanted to hurt anyone. He hadn’t- _he wasn’t-_

Eita let go of his left arm to roughly scrub at his eyes. A sharp pain shot through his arm when the wound was disturbed and he quickly put his hand back. It hurt so bad. It hadn’t hurt that as much when he had first been stabbed but it was getting worse. Was that normal? Was he bleeding out right now? Was he going to die before he ever made it home?

“Semi? Is that you?”

The deep voice had him stop in his tracks. Wakatoshi. Here.

He couldn’t see him like this.

Perhaps foolishly, Eita began to run. His quick steps aggravated his wound but what could he do? Stop and wait for Wakatoshi to see? What would he say if he saw him like this? If he knew that Eita had wrestled the knife again from the guy and _stabbed him back_ -

Despite his best efforts, he didn’t get very far. Wakatoshi had always been faster than everyone else. 

An insistent hand on his right shoulder had him stop. Wakatoshi’s grip was as firm as ever, a glaring contrast to his shaky self. He couldn’t look at him, he knew that his expression would give him away.

“Why were you running?”

Eita didn’t answer. There was a short silence, neither of them willing to give in, then Wakatoshi spoke up again. 

“Is that blood?”

Startled, Eita raised his head. He had taken care to turn his arm away from him but Wakatoshi wasn’t even looking at it. Instead, he was frowning at his face. 

A wave of panic overcame Eita when he realized that he had touched his face earlier. Had he been walking around with blood all over it? How much stupider could he get?! 

“No?” he answered weakly. As if that would convince anyone.

Wakatoshi’s frown deepened as he reached out to touch his face. Memories of a knife flashed before his eyes and before he could make contact, Eita flinched away. The sudden movement tugged at his wound. Grimacing from the pain, Eita drew his shoulders up.

“...what happened?”

He couldn’t answer. Wakatoshi didn’t seem to know what to do either. 

“...come.” 

For a brief moment, panic shot through Eita’s chest. Wakatoshi would drag him to the police and they would throw him in jail. He would lead him to their friends and every single one of them would turn their back on him. 

And still, he could do nothing but follow him, the way he always had. 


	7. semishira - “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Semi had been annoying lately. Not that he wasn’t always annoying but it was worse than usual. There was absolutely nothing Kenjiro could do that wouldn’t end with him criticizing him in one way or another. And he wasn’t even subtle about it! He kept staring at him as if he waited for Kenjiro to make a mistake, only to stomp over and-

“Push your arms out more. Like this.” Semi grabbed his shoulder and his upper arm, positioning them how he wanted. Kenjiro resisted the urge to scream. He knew how to receive! He wasn’t even bad at it! Couldn’t he go bother Goshiki or something?! 

“Yes,” he forced out through clenched teeth. If Semi noticed it, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he watched over Kenjiro as he repeated the exact same motion he had done ten seconds ago.

“Better.” 

A fucking lie. 

“Was that all?” Kenjiro asked cooly. Semi didn’t take the hint, he just sat on the ground and grinned at him.

“For now. I’m sure I’ll find something else in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I’m just going to chill here and enjoy the view.”

The view of what? Kenjiro’s legs? Kenjiro vowed to himself that if a ball was coming in his direction he would, unfortunately, be late receiving it. 

“Don’t you have your own training to do?” 

“Eh. Probably. But this is much more fun. You look good from here.”

Kenjiro flushed and resolutely turned away from Semi. Just what was wrong with him?! “If you keep sitting there, I’m not responsible for any ball that might or might not end up in your face.”

Semi’s laughter echoed through the gym, drowning out the sound of volleyballs hitting the ground. For some reason, Kenjiro found himself even redder than before.

“Nah, I’m good. I have my knight in shining armor here to protect me.”

Something in Kenjiro’s brain must have short-circuited because that was the only explanation for the next words that came out of his mouth.

“Are you flirting with me?!”

Semi raised an eyebrow. “You finally noticed?” 

_What?!_ Was this a joke?! Kenjiro was not equipped to deal with this. His stomach had turned on itself and his hands were uselessly opening and closing by his side. How was he even supposed to reply to that?

The longer the silence dragged on, the more uncomfortable looked Semi. Kenjiro still hadn’t found his voice by the time he spoke up again. “Look, if it makes you uncomfortable, I can-”

“No!” he blurted out. And immediately wished he hadn’t said anything. Semi blinked at him and he quickly turned away. “It’s - whatever. I mean, I don’t mind it. I mean-”

He really should stop talking now before he made it any worse. Leaving Semi to chuckle to himself, he stomped off to look for his water bottle.


	8. kawashira - “Stop being grumpy, it’s lame.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Kenjirou and Taichi were sitting on Taichi’s bed. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Kenjirou was sitting while Taichi was lounging, head propped up by his elbow with his feet almost in Kenjirou’s lap. There was a movie playing, but Taichi was the only one to pay attention to it. Kenjirou had long since picked up a book and was busy reading instead.

Sighing, Taichi nudged him with his feet. Kenjirou didn’t even glance at him. 

“Hey,” he called. 

“Hm?”

“Quit being grumpy, it’s lame.”

At that, Kenjirou finally lowered his book. His glare would have killed a lesser man but Taichi only raised his eyebrows. 

“I’m not grumpy,” Kenjirou said. “Just busy.” 

“No, you’re grumpy because we’re watching _my_ movie. If you were busy, you never would have suggested watching a movie.”

Getting called out on his lies, of course, only made Kenjirou grumpier. Taichi had anticipated that and sat up to pluck the book out of his hands.

“Hey, what-”

“Come on. Just watch the movie. You can read later.”

“I don’t want to watch that movie.” 

“I know. It’s not that bad though, promise.” He resisted the urge to add something about how childish Kenjirou was behaving and laid back down, patting the space in front of him. “Give it a chance?” 

For a second Taichi thought he was going to be rejected, then Kenjirou lowered himself on the bed. Taichi immediately pulled him closer, hugging him from behind and readjusting the laptop. Little by little, Kenjirou relaxed in his arms. Whatever it was that had been bothering beyond the movie seemed to slip from his mind. 

Smiling to himself, Taichi pillowed his head on Kenjirou’s. 

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I can’t see otherwise.”

“I’m not your pillow.” 

Taichi made a noise of agreement. “Yeah, my pillow would be a lot comfier.”

“So just use your pillow, asshole.” 

“Okay,” Taichi shrugged. He dragged his pillow over, placing it on top of Kenjirou’s head before lowering himself again. 

Kenjirou spluttered. “Stop that!”

“But you told me to use my pillow...”

“I hate you.” 

If he did, he had a funny way of showing that. When Taichi intertwined their legs, the last bit of tension finally left Kenjirou’s body.


	9. tensemi - “Sharing is caring, now give me the hoodie!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

It was a universally acknowledged truth that Eita’s fashion style sucked. But every once in a while miracles happen - and today, Satori bore witness to one such miracle. 

Eita had bought a new sweater and it looked _cute_. 

At first, he had been certain that Wakatoshi gave it to him. There was simply no way it was Eita’s. There was no fake fur, no cut-off sleeves, no glossy material. Just a simple white sweater with a compass on it that Satori loved. It was truly mind-boggling. 

“And you’re sure you bought this yourself?” Satori asked for the third time. Eita rolled his eyes and flipped him off. Pretending to be offended, Satori drew up to his full height. “Excuse me, but there is just no way! Give it to me!”

“What? No.” Eita protectively cradled the hoodie to his chest. 

“Gimme!”

“No!”

Satori made a grab for the hoodie but Eita was faster than him. Before he could reach it, Eita had already hidden it behind his back. Satori wasn’t deterred though, he tackled Eita to the bed he tried to tug it out from under him. “Gimme!”

“No! Get off me!” 

“Sharing is caring, now give me the hoodie!” 

“No!” Eita said exasperatedly. “What do you even want with it?!” 

“It can’t be yours! I have to show the others, check the facts.” Satori pretended to think as he tapped his lip. “Maybe keep it for myself. We can’t have you suddenly develop a fashion style, the world is not prepared for that.”

For a moment, Eita stopped fighting him and narrowed his eyes. “This is either an insult or a compliment and I’m not sure which one.” 

Satori smiled gleefully. “Yes.”

“Which one is it?”

“You want to know?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you if you give me the hoodie.”

“Oh, fuck off.”


	10. ushireon - “I think I’m in love with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Reon and Wakatoshi were sitting outside, each of their homework surrounding them. It was one of the first days of spring and Reon was enjoying the warmth that came with it. Something about the fresh air had him feeling a lot more peaceful than his dorm.

“How do you like it?” he asked Wakatoshi. They had long since abandoned their homework and Reon was showing him some of his favorite songs instead.

For a few moments, Wakatoshi didn’t react. Then he inclined his head. “Mn. It’s good.”

Smiling, Reon scrolled a little and selected the next song. “What about this one?” 

Wakatoshi took his time responding. Affection bloomed in Reon’s chest as he watched his friend’s contemplative expression. Contrary to popular belief, Wakatoshi had a lot of little tells that were indicative of his mood if one knew where to look. It had taken Reon a while to discover them all, way longer than Satori had needed, but it had been worth it. Wakatoshi had become way more important to him than he had ever seen coming.

After the song was almost halfway through, Wakatoshi lifted his head and nodded. “It’s good, too.”

“I’m glad you like them, they have reminded me of you since I first listened to them,” Reon replied. He could see Wakatoshi’s surprise and smiled at him. “Your presence is inspiring. You have always encouraged me to try harder and get even better.”

This time, Wakatoshi didn’t answer. He didn’t seem to disagree, he just seemed lost in thought. Reon decided to give him time and put his phone aside, turning his face toward the sun. Yeah, it was really nice out today.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Wakatoshi stated suddenly.

Reon’s eyes snapped open and he turned towards Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi was looking back at him, completely serious. Not that Reon had thought it was a joke, Wakatoshi wasn’t the type for that - it was just unexpected. He swallowed his nerves and managed a smile.

“You are?”

“I believe so.”

The affection he had felt earlier expanded until it turned into something else. Reon’s smile turned genuine and he bumped his shoulder against Wakatoshi’s. “I am in love with you as well.”

Wakatoshi didn’t seem surprised, he just leaned back against him. “I know.”

“Oh, yeah?” 

“Tendou told me.”

Laughing, Reon shook his head. Of course he had. Satori had asked him if he was trying to keep it secret a few weeks back, before telling him that he wasn’t exactly subtle about his feelings. Reon had told him the truth: that it was never meant to be a secret. Why hide love? Satori had been delighted to hear that, he should have expected that he would go straight to Wakatoshi to tell him about it.

“Yeah, that sounds like him.”

Wakatoshi made a sound of agreement as his hand found Reon’s. “I’m glad he did.”

“If he was the reason you started thinking about it then I am, too.”


	11. shiragoshi - “If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst, no additional warnings

Everybody had bad days. It just so happened that Kenjirou had had an _exceptionally_ bad day. He had been running on fumes since he had gotten up and his shift at work hadn’t made it any better. All that had kept him afloat through the day had been the thought of finally getting home and when that had gotten delayed thanks to some asshole damaging his car, he had genuinely been close to tears. Kenjirou couldn’t even remember the last time he had cried! That’s how bad it was!

The moment he opened the door to their apartment, warmth greeted him. He didn’t announce his presence, he just stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Despite that, he heard something clattering in the living room and seconds later Tsutomu’s face appeared in the doorway. 

“Kenjirou! Welcome back! I already ate dinner when you didn’t come home at seven but I saved you somethi- is everything okay?”

Kenjirou had frozen after taking off his coat. Something about Tsutomu’s voice struck a chord in him. It was familiarity and safety after hours filled with nothing but stress. There had been yelling at the hospital, there had been yelling from the asshole who had reversed right into his parked car - but not here.”

“I think,” Kenjirou swallowed. “If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.” 

Tense, he waited for a reaction. This must have been the first time he had ever explicitly asked for a hug during their entire relationship. Tsutomu seemed dumbstruck for a moment, then he crashed into him. Before Kenjirou could lose his balance, arms were drawing him in and holding him close. Tsutomu was a good hugger, had always been. He didn’t think he had ever told him. 

Burying his face in his shoulder, Kenjirou clung to him. For a while they just stood in the hallway, holding on to each other. Tsutomu kept quiet as if he knew that all Kenjirou needed right now was time to gather himself. His presence was calm and steady, something it rarely was around him. But Kenjirou appreciated it, too much energy would just drain him even further. 

“Come on,” Tsutomu said finally, drawing away a little. Kenjirou couldn’t help the way his hands kept clinging to his shirt. “Let’s go to the living room. I’ll warm up your dinner, you just sit down on the sofa.”

Reluctantly, Kenjirou let himself be led to the sofa. He sat down and watched Tsutomu head into the kitchen, watched him turn on the stove and reheat the noodles he must have made earlier. It didn’t take long for him to come back, balancing a plate with chopsticks and two glasses with water on his hands. Kenjirou gratefully accepted the meal and waited for Tsutomu to sit down next to him. When he did, he sat close enough that their legs and arms were touching. 

Bit by bit, Kenjirou found back to himself.


	12. semishira - “YOU SAID TO BE HONEST STOP HITTING ME!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Eita read the poem. Then he read it again. His lips pursed.

“So?” Kenjirou asked impatiently. Eita lowered the paper on the bed and thought about how to best say it. Then he remembered that it was Kenjirou he was talking to and mentally shrugged.

“Well, it sucks.” 

Kenjirou raised his eyebrows. “That’s it?”

“What, you want an itemized list why? I mean, if you insist - I’m gonna need a paper though because I sincerely doubt I could keep all of the things in my head while I try to put them in some kind of- ow!” Eita glared at Kenjirou and massaged his arm. Did he just hit him?!

“You were being a dick,” Kenjirou said unapologetically. Eita raised his eyebrows.

“I was being honest. Your writing sucks.” Once again Kenjirou threw a punch in his direction - this time, Eita saw it coming and dodged. He shot him a grin and received a death glare in response.

Quickly spreading his arms, Eita put on his best fake-diplomatic voice. “No, no, listen. I’m just saying. You have a lot of talents - like glaring or being annoying-” Eita avoided another punch and grinned. “-or reading the most boring books in your free time-” 

Kenjirou reached past him and Eita paused. The next moment, a pillow hit his head and Eita spluttered. “What are you doing?!” 

“Shutting you up.” The pillow hit his head once more and Eita laughed as he raised his hands. 

“Wait, stop! Didn’t you want my opinion on your poem?” 

Kenjirou narrowed his eyes but stopped for a second. That was all Eita needed, he scooted backward assumed his earlier pose. With a badly suppressed grin, he began talking. “As I was saying, you have many talents, but writing _clearly_ isn’t one of them-”

Once again the pillow hit him on the face. Laughing, he tried to hold Kenjirou back, but he wasn’t having it. Eita was laughing so much that he could barely defend his face. “You said to be honest, stop hitting me!” 

_“Shut! Up!”_

Still laughing, Eita finally managed to get a grab on the pillow. He tried pulling it away from Kenjirou, who stubbornly held on. When he finally managed to wrestle it away from him, Kenjiro was close, his cheeks flushed. He was glowering at him but Eita had never felt more in love.

“You know, if you really wanted to shut me up, there are other methods,” he said, still grinning slightly as his eyes focused on Kenjirou’s lips. 

Kenjirou rolled his eyes. “You’re so annoying...” 

“Mn,” Eita agreed easily. 

“I hate you.” And yet it was Kenjirou who closed the distance between them. Eita smiled into the kiss and let his eyes fall closed.


	13. ushiten - “You come here often?” “Well, I work here. So I think I’d have to say ‘yes’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

The reason Wakatoshi had taken the job was simple: he remembered his father telling him that even if you already knew what you wanted to do in life, it was never a bad idea to gather more experience in other areas. Combined with how multiple people had told him that he needed to work on his social skills, he had thought it a good idea to get a part-time job in the service industry. So here he was, in a newly opened café, manning the register because he had messed up 3 orders already. 

Over the course of his first two weeks, Wakatoshi had already met a lot of strange people. He had had a tired college student coming in asking for shots, a family with a kid that kept asking for a truly ridiculous amount of napkins and finally a middle-aged man who asked for an espresso without the caffeine. And these were just the people who _ordered_ weird things.

Then, of course, there were the people who _asked_ weird things.

“Do you come here often?” the red-haired guy said who had ordered a venti 7 pump vanilla soy 12 scoop matcha 180 degree no foam green tea latte. Wakatoshi blinked at him.

“Well, I work here. So I think I’d have to say ‘yes’.”

“I see, I see! And when exactly would that be?”

Frowning, Wakatoshi tried to recall the exact wording of his contract. “I’m unsure if I am allowed to disclose that information.” 

The guy looked at him with wide eyes, then he burst into laughter. “Of course you are! You aren’t allowed to tell me about other people for privacy reasons, but your own schedule is fair game. Unless you don’t want to, of course.” He winked at Wakatoshi and leaned against the counter. “Or I could come every morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of you to brighten my day...”

“That’s not necessary. I’m here Monday and Thursday mornings as well as the entirety of Saturday,” Wakatoshi said. 

The guy beamed as if Wakatoshi had promised to buy him a car. Wakatoshi pretended not to be blinded by it. “Ah, what a gentleman you are! Your mom raised you well, hm? By the way, I’m Tendou Satori - what’s your name?”

A little confused by the question, Wakatoshi tapped his nametag. Tendou zeroed in on it and grinned. “Wakatoshi-kun! You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”

“No.”

“Great! Seems like we’re already getting along! Can I have your number, too?” 

“11,” Wakatoshi replied. Tendou paused. 

“What?”

“My jersey number is 11.” 

Once again the stranger broke out into laughter, which gave Wakatoshi enough time to ring up the next customer. He was glad that the café was rather empty this morning. 

“Your jersey number, huh? You’re a strange one,” Tendou said once he had calmed down. 

Wakatoshi hummed noncommittally. Between the two of them, Tendou was definitely the strange one. He kept talking about anything and everything, apparently unaware of how weird some of his questions were. Oddly enough though, Wakatoshi didn’t seem to mind.


	14. kawagoshi - “I can’t do anything right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst, no additional warnings

Taichi was on his way back to the gym, a little annoyed at himself for letting Yamagata-san distract him enough that he had forgotten his phone. Unlike Yamagata-san, he didn’t make a habit out of forgetting his things everywhere. When he had realized that he didn’t have his phone with him, the other had laughed and said it was karma finally catching up to him - nevermind that it was usually Tendou-san who made fun of him for that. 

The light was still on in the locker room. Taichi raised his eyebrows and looked inside, unsure of what to expect. It was empty - maybe someone had just forgotten to turn off the light? 

But before he could grab his phone, a voice sounded through the room. “Who’s there?”

Taichi flinched in surprise and turned around. This time he saw movement: Goshiki was getting to his feet behind the last bench, his eyes wide with an emotion Taichi couldn’t identify. For a moment they just stared at each other, then Taichi raised an eyebrow. “Were you sitting on the ground?”

Goshiki flushed and turned his back on him. “So what if I was? Everything’s super clean in here anyway.” 

He wasn’t wrong about that but it was a little odd. Taichi decided to drop the topic anyway. “What are you still doing here? Everyone else is already having dinner, the kitchen won’t be open for much longer.”

“I know,” Goshiki said quietly. He sat back down on the bench with seemingly no intention of moving anytime soon. Confused, Taichi joined him. 

Silence settled between them. Just when Taichi thought about speaking up, Goshiki raised his voice. “I can’t do anything right.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t - I just keep messing up, over and over.”

Taichi was not equipped to deal with this. He didn’t even know how to overcome his own insecurities, much less help others overcome theirs. “It was only a practice game,” Taichi said lamely. He could tell it was the wrong thing to say the moment Goshiki spun around, a look of pure despair in his eyes.

“I know! I know! But what if I do the same thing in a real game? There wasn’t even any pressure this time and I still messed up! I just keep making mistakes over and over and-” Goshiki made a frustrated sound and pulled at his hair. “We lost! We lost because of me!” 

Taichi fervently wished someone else was here, someone who could actually talk to people like that. Someone like Oohira-san or Tendou-san. Someone who could sit with Goshiki and help him process his emotions in a healthy way. Someone who wasn’t as inexperienced and-

No. That didn’t matter now. He was the only one here and he had to step up to the task or Goshiki would suffer for it. Forcing himself to calm down, Taichi thought logically about it. If making light of his mistakes didn’t work, then maybe-

“Yeah, we lost because of you. And that’s okay.”

Goshiki swiveled around to look at him, confusion written all over his face. _“What?!”_

“It’s okay,” Taichi repeated. “Everyone here was a first-year once. We all know about the difference in skill of middle and high school. That’s why coach has you playing now: make your mistakes. Make all of them, over and over, lose our games and make them again, so that you won’t make them anymore when it really counts.” 

Goshiki seemed totally dumbfounded by this. It was almost cute, really. Suppressing a smile, Taichi leaned back into the bench. “It was a practice match. What are they for if not practicing?”

“...what are they for if not practicing...” Goshiki repeated under his breath. He didn’t say anything else. Taichi didn’t mind, he was content to sit here and wait for him to wrap his head around it.


	15. semishira & Tendou - “He’s so pretty I think I’m gonna faint.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

"He’s so pretty I think I’m gonna faint,” Eita hissed into the phone. He kept glancing back at the guy running the medical tent, patiently handing out band-aids to every kid coming his way. There was no way he was real. Any second now he’d dissolve into light and return to heaven where he clearly belonged. 

A loud cackle reached his ears. Grimacing, Eita lowered the volume a little. “Sounds like someone is in love!”

“I’m serious! If you had seen him, you would understand!” 

Another cackle. Eita wished that Satori was here so he could see his glare.

“How long have you been standing there watching him, hm? Do the others even know where you are?”

“Irrelevant,” Eita insisted. “I’m not gonna be late for our-” The medical guy looked up, stretching his arms over his head. Sunlight was playing off his hair and made him seem almost ethereal. “-our...” His arms lowered and he glanced at the person next to him. Whatever they were telling him made him smile just slightly, softening his face even further. Eita swore his heart stopped beating for a moment. There was simply no way anyone was allowed to be that pretty.

“-ta? Helloooo? Eita-kun?”

Eita snapped out of it and swallowed drily. “Yes. I’m- I’m still here.”

Satori’s obnoxious laughter filled his ears once more. “You’re smitten!”

“He’s beautiful!” 

“You’ve said that quite a few times already, yes...” 

“But you don’t seem to get it! I’ve never seen anyone that pretty before!” 

“So what are you gonna do about it?”

Eita’s brain short-circuited. “What?” What was Satori suggesting? Was he supposed to make him less pretty somehow? He doubted there was anything he could do to achieve that. 

“I mean,” Satori drawled, “you’re clearly interested in him. You still have a few minutes, right? Just walk up to him and talk to him!”

“Are you crazy?! There’s no way I’m gonna do that!”

“What happened to all your confidence earlier today?” Satori teased. Eita scoffed. 

“I wasn’t in the presence of the prettiest man on Earth.” 

“Come on, don’t chicken out on me! Talk to him, get his number-”

“Satori-”

“-tell him that you’ve been feeling faint because you aren’t used to the presence of angels-”

“Satori!”

“-or ask him for water because clearly you’ve been feeling _thirsty_ -”

“That’s it, I’m hanging up,” Eita hissed. Satori’s laughter was the last thing he heard before he hit the red button. He glanced back at the medical tent where the guy had now taken out a thin book, leaning back into his chair as he began reading it. Whatever it was, he seemed enraptured in the story.

Eita had begun moving before he had made the conscious decision to do so. “Excuse me?” he said once he had reached the desk. “Do you guys have any water bottles?”

The medical guy looked up. His wide eyes had an almost golden color in the light of the sun.

Yep, definitely feeling faint, Eita thought.


	16. ushireon - “I think you might be my soulmate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Wakatoshi was out with Semi and Yamagata looking for a birthday present for Tendou. His birthday was in less than a week and they hadn’t been able to agree on a present yet. Somewhere between the fourth and fifth store they had lost track of the actual purpose of their trip and ended up just aimlessly walking around. Semi and Yamagata were busy debating the details of a conversation that Wakatoshi couldn’t follow while Wakatoshi tried to lead them in the direction of a food stall. 

“I’m just saying it’s weird for a mascot to actually try to sell you stuff. You should have expected a scam,” Semi said. 

“Okay, maybe I could have been more suspicious. But you still don’t get it, they used the official logo and everything. How was I supposed to know that it was fake?”

“It’s a mascot! They advertise stuff, they don’t sell it!”

Wakatoshi knew there was a food stall somewhere in the area. For some reason, he just didn’t quite remember where it was. Maybe he should ask one of the other people at the mall.

“I’m sure there are mascots out there that sell stuff, too!” 

“Not expensive stuff like _phones._ ”

“They were really cheap phones and it’s not like I ended up buying them...”

“No thanks to your intellect.”

“Geez, try to put yourself in my shoes for once! I was on vacation, okay? Maybe horse mascots selling phones is a thing up North. What do you think, Wakatoshi?” 

At the mention of his name, Wakatoshi finally looked back at his friends. Semi had one eyebrow raised at Yamagata, who was intently staring at him. 

“I think,” Wakatoshi said carefully, “that you can’t trust a horse trying to sell you a phone.” 

Yamagata groaned while Semi made a delighted sound. “See! I told you!”

When Wakatoshi turned away to continue his quest for food there was a boy in front of him, a complicated expression on his face. Wakatoshi had the fleeting thought that he was kind of attractive with his full lips and expressive eyebrows but didn’t linger on it. After all, there were lots of attractive strangers in the world. Food was more important right now.

“Um, excuse me,” the boy said then, effectively drawing Wakatoshi’s attention back to himself. “I think you might be my soulmate.” 

Wakatoshi’s brain froze. He felt suspended in the moment, a little like someone had turned off gravity or stopped time. It all probably continued as usual outside of their little circle but it didn’t seem that way. 

“You’re my soulmate?” Wakatoshi asked numbly. 

The boy held out his left arm, pulling up his sleeve. _‘I think that you can’t trust a horse trying to sell you a phone’_ , it said. It was a rather unique sentence and Wakatoshi thought briefly that he didn’t even need his own soulmark to believe him. Still, he held out his own arm, the familiar words _‘Excuse me, I think you might be my soulmate’_ greeting him. The boy was staring down on them as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “Wow,” he said finally.

Wakatoshi kept quiet. What was he supposed to do now? 

“Uh, you two wanna talk, or something? We can give you a moment,” Yamagata said. 

Before Wakatoshi could turn him down, the boy smiled. “That would be nice, actually. Just for a minute?” 

“Sure,” his friends agreed readily. Wakatoshi watched them move away, Semi typing rapidly on his phone. Was he texting Tendou already? He hoped they wouldn’t go too far.

“Ah.” The voice made Wakatoshi focus back on the boy in front of him. He was rubbing his neck as if he was suddenly a little unsure of himself. “Hi. My name is Ohira Reon. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Ushijima Wakatoshi,” he said. 

At Reon’s answering smile, he suddenly felt at ease. Maybe he could ask him to tag along later.


	17. kawasemishira - “Is there a reason you’re blushing like that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Asking someone out was awkward. Eita had no idea how he had done it the first time and he resolved to let Shirabu do the talking. Except Shirabu wasn’t saying anything either and it had already been over a minute of silence and it was _uncomfortable_. This was worse than he had imagined it!

In the end, it was Kawanishi who raised his voice first. “Is there a reason you’re blushing like that?”

“Shut up,” Shirabu fired back just as Eita said: “Actually, there is.” Kawanishi’s calm eyes landed on Eita and Eita felt like running. If he grabbed Shirabu’s hand and just booked it nobody could blame him, right? This had been a stupid idea. 

Before Eita could put his plan into action, Shirabu crossed his arms. “We wanted to ask you something.” There was a fine tremor in his voice that didn’t go unnoticed by Eita, but despite that Shirabu was standing straight. Of course, he was, Shirabu had never been one for running. 

Eita hadn’t either.

Forcing a smile on his face, Eita bumped his shoulder against Shirabu’s. “Yeah. We’ve been hanging out together a lot lately and we really enjoyed it.” Kawanishi was focusing on him again, his gaze sharp the way it usually only turned mid-game. “So we thought to ask you on a date.” 

“With both of us,” Shirabu added. Kawanishi's eyes were vacant in the way Eita recognized as totally overwhelmed by the situation. That wasn’t a good sign, was it?

“Ah,” Eita said, shifting on his feet. “Don’t feel like you have to say yes though. We can just keep hanging out the way we did before if you would prefer that.”

Somewhere in his mind, Eita registered that Shirabu was nodding in support. He was much more focused on Kawanishi’s sudden frown though, wondering what it meant for the three of them. Had they misread him? Was he confused about a date with three people? 

Kawanishi didn’t leave him wondering for long. “No,” he said, his voice firm. Eita’s heart was suddenly in his throat and he was thankful for Shirabu taking over. 

“No?”

“No, I don’t want to just keep hanging out. If - I mean, if you’re serious about this whole thing.” 

“We are,” Shirabu affirmed. Kawanishi gave them one of his barely-there smiles, the ones he used when he was nervous but still kind of excited about the situation. It was a smile Eita had come to know well over the past few months. 

Returning it with one of his own, Eita grabbed Shirabu’s hand. He could see the longing in Kawanishi’s gaze and didn’t hesitate to step a little closer, bumping his shoulder against him. “Okay, cool. We can go to the movies or something.”

“That sucks for a first date,” Shirabu piped up. Eita rolled his eyes.

“Suggest something better then.”

“Dinner. The arcade. A museum. Literally anything that doesn’t involve sitting in a dark room without actually seeing each other.” 

Before Eita could retort, Kawanishi spoke up. “We don’t need to do anything fancy. I’m cool with just buying a few snacks and sitting in the park for a while.” 

This time, it was Shirabu’s turn to roll his eyes. “You just want an excuse to eat your pudding.” 

“Busted,” Kawanishi admitted readily. 

Eita laughed. His heart felt the lightest it had for the past few days.


	18. tengoshi - “Sleep over? Please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

“Sleep over? Please?”

Truthfully, Satori was kind of weak to Tsutomu’s puppy dog eyes. He didn’t think that Tsutomu knew what kind of effect he had on him which only made it worse. It wasn’t abuse of the system, Tsutomu was just always that cute.

Tapping his chin, Satori leaned back into the couch. It was comfortable, as it had been the previous times he had stayed over at Tsutomu’s apartment. He was pretty sure that it was even comfier than his own bed, another point in Tsutomu’s favor. As if those were needed at all, Satori had already made up his mind the moment Tsutomu had asked him to stay. After all, Tsutomu wasn’t the only one missing someone else. 

“Hm, I don’t know... I didn’t bring anything,” Satori drawled. Tsutomu immediately jumped up and spread his arms.

“You don’t have to! You can borrow my stuff! Anything that’s mine is yours!”

Sweet, sweet Tsutomu. He was always so open and earnest, Satori had never stood a chance.

“ _Anything_ you say?”

“Anything!”

“My, my, what a generous offer. Very tempting for sure. It seems like someone missed me quite a lot, huh?” Satori watched through half-lidded eyes as Tsutomu flushed and shuffled his feet. He was mumbling something incomprehensible but Satori didn’t need to hear it to understand it. It was either denial or half-baked excuses, neither of which he was interested in. All that mattered was the indirect confirmation he had gotten. 

“No worries,” Satori said, stretching his arms. Tsutomu was back to watching his every move, as he had been doing the previous few hours. “I missed you, too.”

“Yeah?” Hope was sparkling in Tsutomu’s eyes and Satori wondered.

“Sure did.” 

“Really?! I mean, I hoped so, but you visit us so rarely that I wasn’t sure...” 

“Money, Tsutomu,” Satori reminded him gently. Tsutomu was still glowing from the inside.

And Satori wondered.

“Right, right... so you’ll stay?”

_How far could he push it?_

“Hm.” Satori put his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands. All of his senses were concentrated on Tsutomu, ready to abort mission at the slightest sign of distress. “I’ll stay on one condition only: we’ll share your bed. I’m sick of this couch.” 

Tsutomu froze and blinked in surprise. Then a smile as bright as the sun took over his face. “Yeah! ‘Course, that’s totally fine! Hang on, I’ll let you borrow my pajamas too, I’ll be right back!”

_Ah_ , Satori thought as he watched him disappear into his bedroom. _There is my answer_. 

He wasn’t alone with these feelings.


	19. kawasemi - “I missed you so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Eita was waiting at the station, pretending to be more patient than he actually was. It was like time had slowed down ever since he had arrived here - and he had arrived here early, the thought of being late for any unforeseen reason unbearable to him. They rarely found time to meet each other and Eita wasn’t about to waste a single second with him.

If only the train would share his sentiment...

Getting his phone out, Eita checked the time. 10:45, there were two minutes left. How long could two minutes be? He could hold out for two more minutes. 

As long as the train was on time, of course. The thought had him grimacing. That would be just their luck. Last time Taichi had messaged him the journey had been going smoothly but that had been half an hour ago, there could have been delays. 

Just when Eita debated texting him, his phone received a new message. 

> _From: Taichi_
> 
> _be there soon. i actually recognize the buildings now lol_

Eita’s heart gave a pathetic little jump and he hurried to type out a reply.

> _nice! i’m waiting at the gate near the elevator_

Taichi read the message immediately but didn’t send a reply. Not that Eita had expected one, he was probably fighting his way towards the exit by now. The train shouldn’t be unreasonably full at this time in the morning but there was always someone getting out at Sendai Station.

Somehow, time passed. When Taichi’s train got announced Eita’s gaze sharpened. Any moment now Taichi would finally be home for summer break and Eita would be able to hold him again. They would get to watch movies together, call up their old high school friends, and visit the little café where they had had their first date. Any moment now...

The train rolled in and Eita’s tried to catch a glimpse of Taichi through the windows. He couldn’t quite make out anyone, the sun was reflecting off the glass and blinding him. There was something that might or might not have been blonde hair - but it was too low to be Taichi. His boyfriend usually loomed over everyone else by a head at least. 

After that, it didn’t take long. Eita had positioned himself strategically, he knew where Taichi usually left the train. Once the doors opened, Taichi was one of the first people to step on the platform. Their eyes met and Eita couldn’t stop the huge grin from taking over his face. Not that he tried to, there was an echo of it on Taichi’s face and he’d do anything to keep Taichi grinning like that.

“Yo, you’re back!” Eita called out. Taichi hurried over, pulling his suitcase along as if it didn’t weigh a thing. A wrong assumption, as Eita knew, and also one that didn’t matter at all for the moment.

“I’m back,” breathed Taichi as he came to a stop right in front of him. Eita didn’t wait, he quickly drew him into a hug and squeezed him tightly. Taichi hugged back without hesitation. “Ah, I missed this so much.”

“I missed _you_ so much,” Eita fired back as if it was a competition. Laughter rose from Taichi’s chest and they finally let go, giving each other a quick check over. Once Eita was satisfied that Taichi looked alive and healthy, he linked their arms. “Ready to go home?”

“Very much,” Taichi replied with the enthusiasm of a college student who just got promised a break.


	20. ushiten - “Nobody’s seen you in days.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst, depression

Satori didn’t know what to do anymore. He felt like he was falling apart bit by bit, piece by piece, but as sure as the sun rose in the sky. Losing a piece of himself meant never getting it back. He had tried, once. A few times, maybe. But there was nothing he could do - he was part nothing now, the emptiness a gaping wound that he was acutely aware of. If time healed all wounds, why was his only growing?

How many pieces did he still have until there was nothing left to lose?

His phone started ringing. Satori briefly wondered who might be calling him, then dismissed it. It didn’t matter anyway. There was only a small group of people who willingly called him and he didn’t want to talk to any of them. He couldn’t bear to let them see the nothingness in him. They would be either disappointed or worried, neither of which he wanted to deal with. 

Finally, the ringing stopped. Satori barely had enough time to be glad about that when the ringing started anew. 

“Ah, persistent, are you?” he whispered. His voice sounded croaky. When was the last time he had used it? Was it on the grocery trip last week? 

Without checking the caller ID, Satori muted his phone. He needn’t have bothered, when he didn’t pick up the second time they didn’t call him a third time. 

There was, however, someone ringing the bell to his apartment door. Satori’s eyes flitted to the door. What was he supposed to do now? Open it? Check who was there through the spyhole? But that required getting up. Waiting for them to leave was much easier...

The ringing stopped, but there were no steps leaving the hallway. Instead, someone knocked against the door. It sounded heavy, familiar - something about it tried to tug at his heart but there weren’t enough pieces of him left to care. 

“Tendou? Are you there?” A muffled voice sounded through the door. For the first time in days, Tendou felt his interest getting piqued. With effort, he struggled to his feet and shuffled to the door. Leaning against the door, he could almost imagine that he could feel Wakatoshi’s warmth through the wood.

Wakatoshi knocked again. “Tendou?” 

Raising his voice was too much effort. But was he ready to unlock the door? He didn’t really want Wakatoshi to see him like this but he desperately wanted to look at him. It had been so long since they had last gotten to talk face to face.

If there were still enough pieces of him left to care about Wakatoshi, wasn’t it worth the effort of opening the door?

Clinging to that thought, Satori turned the key and opened the door. Wakatoshi stood in front of it, his dark eyes nonjudgemental. They quietly took each other in, Wakatoshi’s expression never changing, before he raised his voice. “Nobody’s seen you in days.”

“I’m well aware,” Satori replied. His voice still sounded off but Wakatoshi didn’t comment on it. 

“Can I come in?” 

Ah, and wasn’t that the prize question of the day? Satori debated it for a while and then realized he didn’t care enough to stop him. Seeing Wakatoshi again was worth a few hours of uneasiness. 

Silently, he opened the door a little further.


	21. semishira - “Am I your lockscreen?” “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, no additional warnings

Doing homework together had become something of a habit. It had started out when Goshiki had asked Kenjirou for help with math and Ohira-san had stumbled upon them. Ohira-san had been immediately taken by the idea to study together and had convinced everyone else to join them in the common room. It had been supposed to be a one-time thing but Tendou-san must have thought that it would be funny to convince Semi-san that they were doing the same thing again next week because he had been at Kenjirou’s door exactly a week later, arms laden with homework.

And, well. Kenjirou wasn’t one to say no to anyone who wanted to study. Privately, he thought that none of the third years were studying enough considering that graduation was only a few months away. That’s why he had told Semi-san to wait for a second, had gathered his things, and led them to the spot where they had studied last time. They had spent a few hours studying in silence before Semi-san had called it off for the day. Kenjirou wasn’t sure what had possessed him to do it but he had told Semi-san to come back next week, same time, same place.

From there on out, studying together was just something they did. They weren’t in the same grade so they rarely managed to help each other out but it was nice to have company. Occasionally, Semi-san would lean back and declare that he needed a break. Other times, when Kenjirou felt like his head was about to explode, he would turn towards Semi-san and start talking volleyball with him. He had never had so much fun studying and it was frankly a little concerning.

Kenjirou was deep in a history essay when his phone started ringing. He ignored it and tried his best to not lose his train of thought. 

“Aren’t you gonna take that?”

“It’s just an alarm,” Kenjirou answered distractedly. 

“An alarm?”

“I promised Ushijima-san to do some extra training before dinner. Just gotta finish this first.” 

“Can I turn it off?”

Kenjirou made a go-ahead motion before he realized what turning off the alarm would entail. His head snapped around at full speed to search for his phone, only to find it already in Semi-san’s hands. The alarm had stopped and Semi-san was just staring at the screen, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Am I your lockscreen?”

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” Kenjirou replied, reaching out to take his phone back. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, he hadn’t done anything wrong. His background was of a group picture, only zoomed in because... because Semi-san had looked happy on there. So amazingly happy. He wanted to see him like that every day. 

Was cutting everyone else out of a group picture better or worse than setting one of Semi-san alone? Kenjirou’s brain wasn’t working properly anymore, he didn’t know. 

“...I should get going,” Kenjirou said. He avoided Semi-san’s eyes while he packed his stuff.

“Wait, what? What about the essay?”

“No time.” 

“What? But you- no, nevermind. Where’s that picture even from?”

“Don’t remember.” That was a lie. It was from after their second game at the Interhigh Preliminaries. 

“The quality is shit! Don’t you have a better picture of me?” 

Kenjirou froze. “What?” 

“You heard me! That’s an awful picture, come here, let’s take a new one.”

_“What?!”_ Finally, Kenjirou met Semi-san’s eyes again. They were sparkling with amusement but he seemed entirely serious about it. 

“Take a picture with me.”

“Why?!”

“For your lockscreen, obviously. Can’t have you running around with that, I have a reputation to upkeep.”

Ten minutes later, Kenjirou was on his way to the gym, his hands hanging on to his phone like a lifeline. He had a new lockscreen now, one he knew he’d cherish for a long time.


End file.
